The Names of Herbes #269877

The reprint of the "Names of Herbes," by William Turner, which is now offered to the Members of the English Dialect Society, renders easily accessible a rare and interesting little book. It appeals to many classes of readers, and although not strictly a Dialect work, it has sufficient connection with the objects of the Society to justify its appearance among our publications. It forms a fitting companion to the "Dictionary of English Plant-names;" it will interest those who study the history of cultivated plants, inasmuch as it is the earliest authority to which the introduction of certain plants can be traced; and to the botanist it will be especially useful, inasmuch as it embodies a careful attempt to identify the species recorded with their modern synonyms.<br><br>I have divided the work into three parts, which I may briefly define. The first is an exact reprint of the work, the only alterations being in the pagination, and of the insertion at the foot of each page of the "fautes escaped in the printyng," which will be found collected (as in the original) at p. 90. The original pagination is indicated at the bottom of each page of the reprint, where I have also occasionally placed, in square brackets, a correction of certain other errata, which escaped the notice of Turner when he drew up his list of "fautes." The second part consists of a list, alphabetically arranged, of the English names given by Turner (whether invented by him or in actual popular use), each name being followed by (1) its modem scientific equivalent, (2) the Latin heading under which Turner places it, and (3) the page of the reprint on which it will be found.